Moments after his storied AFL career ended in heartbreak, Collingwood great Steele Sidebottom cut to the chase.
"Shit happens, hey? We move on," the two-time Magpies AFL premiership player told the Seven Network.
"I just feel so blessed, very content with my time at Collingwood. I've been so lucky and the next part of my life now starts."
As Sidebottom spoke, Tim Membrey was being consoled by injured teammate Scott Pendlebury after he missed the shot at goal on the final siren that drifted wide.
It meant the Western Bulldogs won the first AFL wildcard final by three points. The two teams gave Sidebottom a guard of honour as he walked off the MCG for the last time as a player.
Captain Darcy Moore and fellow team leader Brayden Maynard, who were also injured for Friday night's classic match, looked on in dismay.
"I'm just shattered for the boys, really. To go down like that, a kick after the siren, it just goes to show, footy games these days, they're just small margins," Sidebottom said.
"Clearly, I'm disappointed, but that's it for me and what a ride it's been."
Sidebottom was asked about the season, and his career, ending in such a cruel way.
"That's what makes this group so strong, we don't talk about results and outcomes and things like that," he said.
'Those moments, we've shown in the past ... we're a very tight-knit group and I feel very fortunate that I've finished with this group of players."
Sidebottom finished on 375 games and only Pendlebury, who became the AFL games record holder this year, has played more for the Magpies.
Recruited with the No.11 pick in the 2008 draft, the 35-year-old from the Victorian country town of Tallygaroopna played in the 2010 drawn grand final and the replay win over St Kilda the following week.
The midfielder also kicked a crucial long-range goal late in the last quarter that helped the Magpies beat Brisbane in the 2023 grand final.
"He's one of the greats of the club, one of the best teammates I've ever had and I wish we could have gone all the way for him - it wasn't to be," Magpies star Nick Daicos said in the rooms afterwards.
"It's been a privilege to play with him."
